Kelly drive bushing



June 6, 1950 c. s. sHAr-'FE'R KELLY DRIVE BUSHING Filed Aug. 27, 1947 A'. Shaffer INVENTOH ATTORNEYS Patented June 6, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENTI GFFICE KELLY DRIVE BUSHING Charles S. Shacr, Odessa, Tex.

Application August 27, 1947, Serial No. 770,824

(Cl. Z55-23) 2 Claims.

This invention relates to well drilling equipment, and more particularly to well drilling equipment including the well known Kelly bushing or drive bushing designed for use in connection with rotary tables of well drilling rigs.

An important object of the invention is to provide a bushing wherein roller bearings are held within a body portion including a cage, to contact with the square stem or kelly of the drilling string, whereby lateral movement of the stem or kelly will be prevented, thereby reducing wear to a minimum.

Another object of the invention is to supply adjustable bearings mounted within the body portion, the bearings providing a support for the rollers in which the stem or kelly is boxed, thereby permitting the use of rollers oi a predetermined size, with various sized stems or kellys.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention consists of certain novel details of construction and combinations of parts, hereinafter more fully described and po-inted out in the claims, it being understood that changes may be made in the construction and arrangement oi. parts without departing from the spirit of the invention as claimed.

Referring to the drawing:

Figure 1 is an elevational view of a bushing constructed in accordance with the invention.

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken on line Z-2 of Figure 1.

Referring to the drawing in detail, the bushing forming the subject matter of the present invention comprises the body portion indicated generally by the reference character 5, the body portion having the reduced lower end portion 6 square in cross section and designed to t within the usual square opening of a. rotary table in which bushings of this type are mounted to move with the tabie.

are inclined inwardly from the upper ends of the corner plates, as clearly shown by the drawing.

The grooves 9 accommodate the ribs I0 which are disposed along the rear inclined Vedges of the segments II, which segments are provided with inner edges parallel With the stem or kelly I2. Thus it will be seen that due to this construction, the segments II may be readily removed from the grooves in which they are shown in Figure 2 of the drawing, and inserted in the inner grooves, should it be desired to use the bushing with a smaller kelly. Y

Reference character I3 indicates horizontally 2 aligned rollers the pintles I4 of which rest against the -inner edges of the segments as clearly shown.

The arrangement of rollers I3 is such that they provide a boxing for the stem or kelly I2 to maintain the same in vertical position at all times, insuring against lateral movement of the stem or kelly duringl operation, which usually results in undue wear on the kelly to render the same inoperative.

It might be further stated that the grooves formed in the corner plates, are so arranged that when the rollers are positioned against the segments, the space between the rollers will form a boxing in which the stem or kelly moves in a true vertical movement.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. The combination with a Kelly bar, of a Kelly bar bushing comprising a base plate having an extension adapted to be fitted in an opening of a rotary drill table, corner plates rising from the base plate, each corner plate having pairs of spaced longitudinal grooves formed in the inner surfaces thereof, said grooves being inclined inwardly towards the lower ends of the corner plates, elongated bearing segments iitted against the inner surfaces of the corner plates, longitudinal ribs extending laterally from the outer longitudinal edges of the segments said ribs being substantially narrow and fitted in certain of the grooves, securing the segments to the corner plates, and rollers supported by the segments, the rollers operating against the Kelly bar operating through the bushing.

2. The combination with a Kelly bar, of a Kelly bar bushing comprising a base plate having an extension adapted to be tted in an opening of a rotary drill table, corner plates rising from the base plate, each corner plate having pairs of spaced outer and inner longitudinal grooves formed in the inner surfaces thereof, elongated bearing segments, roller bearings mounted on the inner edges of the segments for engagement with 'a kelly operating therethrough, longitudinally disposed outwardly extended ribs formed on the outer longitudinal edges of the segments, adapted to be fitted in the grooves of the corner plates, removably securing the bearing segments within the corner plates.

CHARLES S. SHAFFER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the ille of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

